# Should I subscribe to Vanity Fair or the New Yorker? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2007, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131 "2007-08-19T10:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/1 "2007-08-19T10:32:56Z")
Whenever I’m stateside I pick up copies of these august publications, but they’re not easy to find on this side of the pond - I tend only to see them at airports or train stations - so I’m thinking of subscribing. However, my budget does not run to two, so I’m looking for opinions on which one I should favour. My opinions, based on not a great deal of reading: The New Yorker has great fiction, reviews, and op-eds, but seems totally up itself with regard to the NY art scene. Vanity Fair has great investigative journalism, reviews, and op-eds, but seems totally up the ass of celebrity and haute couture. Right now I’m tending towards The New Yorker, but would be interested to hear opinions before I spend my cash. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/2 "2007-08-19T11:46:31Z")
Vanity Fair has better photography, if you’re into visuals. ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/3 "2007-08-19T13:54:39Z")
I love Vanity Fair. They have very insighful articles about current events and pictures of very pretty people. It’s perfect! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/4 "2007-08-19T14:04:34Z")
Well damn, I suspect this thread is moot, as I can’t find anywhere on the internets that would allow me to subscribe in the UK. Poo. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/5 "2007-08-19T15:09:02Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Well damn, I suspect this thread is moot, as I can’t find anywhere on the internets that would allow me to subscribe in the UK. Poo. [/QUOTE] For a non-US subscription or to subscribe to the UK version of Vanity Fair, check [here](http://www.condenet.com/mags/vanityfair/). For a non-US subscription of The New Yorker, check [here](http://www.condenet.com/mags/newyorker/). ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/6 "2007-08-19T16:09:36Z")
I would say it depends on what you want to read. I perceive, as you do, that _Vanity Fair_ is more entertainment industry/couture oriented. This does nothing for me. I also don’t know that I’d give the edge on investigative reporting to VF. Seymour Hersh, for example, publishes in _The New Yorker_… The fiction can also be very good. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/7 "2007-08-19T20:58:44Z")
You should subscribe to both (I do). But if you’re going to subscribe to only one, make it _The New Yorker_. _Vanity Fair_ is too celebrity obsessed. (For a while, under editor Tina Brown, _The New Yorker_ was too.) ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/8 "2007-08-19T21:04:09Z")
_The New Yorker_. I used to think it was so NY-centric (and why shouldn’t it be?) but in recent years, it seems to have shifted focus ever so slightly to include more of the nation and the world. The Iraq reporting is very good, as is the humor. Celebrities you can see anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/9 "2007-08-19T21:49:27Z")
Thank you all. I am going to go for The New Yorker, though the price is a bit higher than I expected, so will hold off for a month or two. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/10 "2007-08-19T22:05:19Z")
I love the New Yorker. It’s not terribly expensive and it’s such a damned good magazine. The Cadillac of bathroom reading, if you will. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/11 "2007-08-19T22:06:47Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] You should subscribe to both (I do). But if you’re going to subscribe to only one, make it _The New Yorker_. _Vanity Fair_ is too celebrity obsessed. (For a while, under editor Tina Brown, _The New Yorker_ was too.) [/QUOTE] I agree with this. Vanity Fair is way too celebrity ass-kissy for me, and I think The New Yorker is the best periodical showcase for wrtiting talent that exists. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/12 "2007-08-19T23:43:53Z")
The New Yorker is more expensive because it’s weekly rather than monthly, so you get a lot more articles for the same period of time, and a lot less photography and ads. Having been a VF subscriber, then switching to the New Yorker a couple of years ago, my main complaint is that I have a hard time finishing an issue before the next one comes. I always wonder what brilliant piece of writing I may have missed because I tossed an issue before I was finished. VF is fun, but the New Yorker makes me feel smarter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/13 "2007-08-20T00:03:17Z")
The New Yorker is consistently excellent, but is also consistently out of touch with about 99% of humanity. Their writers think that everyone makes at least a half million dollars a year, has a full time nanny for the kids, and spends the entire month of August in the Hamptons or Saratoga. They are so elitist that they don’t even realize they are elitist. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/14 "2007-08-20T00:07:23Z")
I like the _New York Review of Books_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/15 "2007-08-20T00:10:43Z")
Looking at the recent [reporting and essays](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting) in _The New Yorker_, I don’t see any elitism at work, unless elitism means an intelligent curiousity about today’s world. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/16 "2007-08-20T00:23:59Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Thank you all. I am going to go for The New Yorker, though the price is a bit higher than I expected, so will hold off for a month or two. [/QUOTE] Good choice. Vanity Fair is thick with ads and The New Yorker might be hoity-toity, but it has great cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/17 "2007-08-20T05:24:11Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Vader’s Little Pal] …Having been a VF subscriber, then switching to the New Yorker a couple of years ago, my main complaint is that I have a hard time finishing an issue before the next one comes. I always wonder what brilliant piece of writing I may have missed because I tossed an issue before I was finished. … [/QUOTE] I get so behind on the NYer that I find myself heading first for the letters section, to see what they’re talking about from previous issues that I might be interested in reading. I used to get them both. VF had good stuff some of the time, but the celebrity-awe bit got to me. The first issue I got after the last time I resubscribed had Paris Hilton on the cover…followed in short order by Lindsay Lohan…which is why it was the last time I resubscribed. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/18 "2007-08-20T05:32:39Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Vader’s Little Pal] Having been a VF subscriber, then switching to the New Yorker a couple of years ago, my main complaint is that I have a hard time finishing an issue before the next one comes. I always wonder what brilliant piece of writing I may have missed because I tossed an issue before I was finished. VF is fun, but the New Yorker makes me feel smarter. 😃 [/QUOTE] Back 15 or 20 years ago, when the New Yorker was a lot fatter, I made it a point to read every word of every issue. I soon had a backlog of a year. I didn’t subscribe for some of the time _that woman_ was editor, and I caught up. Now, I just read the really interesting stuff, which is usually over half the issue. I’ve never even looked at VF, and can’t comment. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/19 "2007-08-20T05:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] The New Yorker is consistently excellent, but is also consistently out of touch with about 99% of humanity. Their writers think that everyone makes at least a half million dollars a year, has a full time nanny for the kids, and spends the entire month of August in the Hamptons or Saratoga. They are so elitist that they don’t even realize they are elitist. [/QUOTE] Any examples? I find far more elitism in the NY Times, with its $1000 clothing and recipes with ingredients found in two or three stores in Brooklyn. The New Yorker doesn’t even run the Christmas shopping articles anymore. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131/20 "2007-08-20T11:48:46Z")
Well I just said screw it and went and abused my credit card. The first issue of the New Yorker “should arrive in six to eight weeks” which is a bit much, but since the earliest issue I currently possess, in its rightful place in the bathroom, is dated May 2006, I guess I can wait a little longer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-subscribe-to-vanity-fair-or-the-new-yorker/416131.md?page=2)